NCAA Wrestling Nationals, Session One. Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines, Iowa. March 21, 2013.
2011-12: In his first year in the starting lineup, Houdashelt posted a 28-7 record and captured the 157-pound title at the 2012 Big 12 Championship as a redshirt freshman. He wrestled in all 19 of the team's duals, going 15-4 in those contests. Houdashelt won three of his first four dual contests to start the year, including a 19-6 major decision over Stanford's Josh Lauderdale, and rode that momentum into the Kaufman-Brand Open, where he took first place while winning four bouts with bonus points. At the Southern Scuffle, Houdashelt earned a third place finish, finishing the tournament with a 6-1 record. His lone defeat came to James Vollrath of Penn State, losing 5-4, but Houdashelt came back and rallied off four straight decisions. From Jan. 14-Feb. 4, Houdashelt won six straight matches, which included a 3-1 decision over No. 9 Albert White (Oklahoma State) and four wins with bonus points. He was perfect at the NWCA National Duals Regional on Feb. 11, pinning Cal Poly's Ganpier Yanez in 3:48 while scoring decisions over Michigan's Brandon Zeerip and Minnesota's Daniel Zilverberg. Houdashelt closed the regular season with another victory over Oklahoma State's White, and defeated the Cowboy wrestler for the third time on the year in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship. In the finals, Houdashelt avenged two losses earlier in the season to Matt Lester (Oklahoma), defeating the No. 12 ranked wrestler to become Mizzou's second 157-pound conference champion in program history and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Honors: Big 12 Champion (157 pounds), Second Team Academic All-Big 12
2010-11: Houdashelt shined as a redshirt, posting an impressive record of 23 wins to just five losses at 157 pounds during the 2010-11 campaign. He competed in six tournaments and captured first place in three of them. He started his career with a sixth place finish at the Lindenwood Open, winning his first three matches by bonus points. He scored a technical fall in his first match, winning 16-0 in 2:57 before pinning his next opponent and scoring a 20-3 technical fall in his following match. Two weeks later, Houdashelt captured his first title at the University of Central Missouri Open, going 4-0 on the day. After winning 10-4 in his first match, he picked up a 13-3 decision to advance to the semifinals, where he won 3-0. He defeated his opponent by technical fall in the finals, winning 17-1. He placed third the next week at the Kaufman/Brand Open, going 5-1 with two more wins by technical fall. Houdashelt competed unattached at the Midlands, where he went 2-2 with a 3-2 decision over Central Michigan's Eric Cubberly and a 2-1 win against Mike Kent of Stanford. He closed out his first season as a Tiger by winning nine straight matches over the course of two tournaments. All four of his wins at the Roger Denker Open came with bonus points, which included a 13-0 major decision against Cade Draper of Oklahoma State and a win by fall in 5:53 against Parker Madl of Oklahoma. In the finals, he majored Donald Woods of Lindenwood, 10-2. A few weeks later, Houdashelt took first at the MVC Open, scoring two falls and a major decision on the day. For the year, he finished with five major decisions, four pins and six technical falls.
High School: Was a member of the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars wrestling squad, a team he helped lead to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2009. Houdashelt claimed individual state championships during his junior and senior years after finishing second in 2008. His championship-winning senior season capped off a perfect 51-0 year. In 2008, Houdashelt finished third in the freestyle at the Super 32's, while also finishing second in the freestyle at Junior Nationals. In 2010, he captured another third place finish, this one coming at the FILA Juniors. Personal: Drake Houdashelt was born on July 1, 1992 in Wichita, Kan., to Andy and Kim Houdashelt. He has two older brothers and a younger sister. He is undecided on a major.
